We start off the week with some exciting news for naturalization applicants filing N-400, Application for Naturalization. On December 9, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new updates to its policy guidance including a new procedure that will allow USCIS to automatically extend the validity of a…
Articles Posted in USCIS
Immigration Updates: TPS Extensions for Haitians and USCIS Commitments to Immigration in the New Year 2023
We close off the week with some new announcements from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding TPS extensions for Haitian nationals, and USCIS commitments to improve immigration in the new year – fiscal year 2023. TPS Extended for Haitian Nationals On December 5, 2022, the Secretary of…
All About the December 2022 Visa Bulletin, What to Expect, and More!
In this blog post, we cover the release of the December Visa Bulletin 2022 and what you can expect for employment based and family preference categories during the upcoming month of December. The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that…
DHS Takes Steps to Protect DACA with Final Rule in Federal Register
DACA recipients can now breathe a sigh of relief. We are happy to report that the Department of Homeland Security recently published a final rule in the Federal Register, taking a major step to safeguard the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, while the fight to uphold DACA is…
USCIS Announces Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) Loses Accreditation: How this Impacts F-1 Students, STEM OPT Extensions, H-1B Master’s Cap, and More…
In this blog post, we bring you some unfortunate news. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will no longer recognize the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an accrediting agency. Sadly, this means that certain F-1 student visa applicants will be impacted by this…
DHS Announces Ethiopia Designation for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months
Happy Halloween! In this blog post, we bring you a brand-new immigration update. On October 21, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months. This decision marks Ethiopia’s first designation for TPS. This designation was…
USCIS Extends COVID-19-related Flexibilities until January 24, 2023
We start off the week with the latest news regarding COVID-19-related flexibilities for responses to Requests for Evidence, NOIDs, and such related notices issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. What do I need to know about these new updates? USCIS RFE/NOID Flexibility Continued for Responses to Agency Requests USCIS…
All About the November 2022 Visa Bulletin, What to Expect, and More!
In this blog post, we cover the release of the November Visa Bulletin 2022 and what you can expect for employment based and family preference categories during the upcoming month of November. The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for…
USCIS Opens New Admissions Process for Venezuelans, Starting Today October 18, 2022
In this blog post, we follow up on our previous reporting relating to a brand-new program launched by the Biden administration that will allow for the admission of up to 24,000 Venezuelans, closely following in the footsteps of the Uniting for Ukraine program. Today, October 18, 2022, the U.S. Citizenship…
Biden Administration Launches New Entry Program for Venezuelan Nationals, Mirroring Uniting for Ukraine
The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to secure the Southwest border to curb illegal immigration stemming from the humanitarian and economic crisis in Venezuela. In a press release issued October 12, 2022, the Biden administration announced that effective immediately, Venezuelans who enter the United States between ports of entry,…